6 posts tagged “fish”

I'm still having a blast with my -- somewhat obsessive -- aquarium hobby.  I always knew I would enjoy having an aquarium, I just never realized how much I would enjoy it.  Aside from my computer (which keeps me in contact with my favorite person) and possibly my camera, my fishtank has to be my favorite possession.  Sure it can be a lot of work, but so is raising anything;  whether it be kids, pets or even plants.

Speaking of plants, I've always been a bit of a gardener at heart as well, so it was just a given that I would try my hand at freshwater plants.

I always wanted to have a natural, or 'planted', tank - and I'm finally reaching the point where I know enough about the hobby that everything in my tank is straight from nature:  live plants, driftwood, root wood, moss, various rock.  I currently have 8 different species of plants in the tank, ranging from ferns to mosses, to grasses.  It gets kind of interesting when you realize that you can spend just as much -- if not more -- time and money on these plants as you do on the actual fish, and sometimes the plants get more attention from viewers!

I think all the expense is well worth it though.  As Victoria was telling me recently, it's like art.  Living, growing, ever changing art.  I could sit there watching it for hours.

OK, I've upgraded my aquarium!  Decided to go with an Eclipse System.  The clean lines look great, not to mention all the "mechanical" bits and pieces are hidden inside the hood, so you don't need to have so many ugly protuberances jutting out in all directions.

I'm attempting with this tank to create a more 'natural' aquarium.  I want everything in it to eventually be "live", I don't want any of those fake tank decorations this time - only live plants, wood and of course fish.  I've had to do a lot of research to see what sorts of fish can habitat well together, and now I'm seeing that you have to be just as careful when picking your aquarium plants.

We'll see how this goes!

As for now it is pretty sparse and bare, but after a few more additions and a couple months of growth time I hope to add more photos that show a good development in the tank.  I'll put a picture below of what it currently looks like.

Current fish:

[2] Albino Corydoras
[3] Scissortail Rasbora
[6] Ember Tetra
[2] Dwarf Gourami - Neon Blue (new)
[1] Mystery Snail

I've recently within the last year become an aquarium enthusiast.  I really can't say enough good things about the benefits to having an aquarium that you really enjoy.  Its almost like having a living, moving, constantly changing piece of art.  Watching one can be a soothing experience, and listening to the water flow just adds to the sense of relaxedness.

Not to mention that it just feels good watching a process of evolution that you personally had a hand in creating.

You get to watch as each fish develops and goes about its life cycle.  You get to watch the plants grow and fill the tank with a completely unique underwater environment.  It's sort of like being a parent I suppose:  you provide the safety, environment and good natured love - then watch with pride as they grow and go about life.

It's amazing though, how much money you can sink into an aquarium project.  I've always had big dreams of a large tank, something along the lines of 50 gallons where I could really have a nice variety of aquatic life.  I've never had an aquarium though, so... starting that big might not be the greatest idea.  So I went modest, and decided to start with a simple 10 gallon tank.  Sounds very cheap right?  Hardly, over the course of a few months as I slowly got everything I needed to provide for a healthy aquarium, I had probably spent upwards of $400-500.

Of course, being a first-time fish owner I made my share of mistakes.  I bought things I didn't need, and purchased fish that weren't compatible tank mates, but for the most part you really do need a pretty nice list of stuff for even a simple tank.  The aquarium itself, proper lighting, air supply, heating (which is very important in Alaska), filtration and water flow.  Then there are all the things you need to keep the tank clean, the brushes, scrapers and hoses.  Then the chemicals you might need to keep a healthy water quality, and various types of food for your various types of fish.

And of course we can't forget the fish and plants themselves, which can either be the cheapest or most expensive part of the whole project, depending on what you choose.  I don't have any complaints though.  Every bit of money I've sunk -- no pun intended -- into this project has been money well spent.  I love sitting here looking at this thing.

What would I do though if money wasn't an option?  What sort of aquarium might I design if I could do anything at all I wanted?  The photos below could be perfect examples.  These are all aquariums I found at the Aquarium Design Group.  I admit, I'm fairly jealous...

All I can say is that it must be pretty nice to have that kind of money.  Sorry about the poor quality of the photos, but you can see them in the gallery at the site I linked further up in the post.

So life in the tank is still going well.  I realized I had to boost my shutter speed and play with the lighting, even to be able to get a mostly bad shot of the inside of my fish tank, but believe me this is the best photo of the batch.  Also, luckily, in this one tiny shot I managed to get every single fish into the frame.

Things I've learned thus far:  Bleeding Heart tetras are NOT as peaceful as the fish store clerk led me to believe.  Snails are excellent algae controllers.  Swordtails like to leap out of the tank (just ask the one my dog ate).  Good lighting is a must, if you want to "see" your tank the way it should be seen.  A clean tank is a happy tank.  Research, research, research - before adding fish to a tank.

I guess the main thing I've learned is that fish are just like any other pet, you need the time, money and the desire to make them thrive.  If you don't have all of those things, don't even bother.  It's just cruel to neglect a pet, even a fish.